You guys have been slayin em. Good job. I think the hogs would rather deal with the gators than yalls dogs @ this point.


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Top shelf dog work man! Dogs with that type of stick/bottom are not common. I know how hard you have worked to develop them. Nice to see you enjoy the fruits of your labor.


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Nice hunt NLA. Really like the way your dogs operate. Hope the CD gyp heals up quick.


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Second Boar


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Loaded Rousty, Yancy, & Lynda up for a run Saturday morning. 20+ mph winds had my expectations in check. Hunted for a couple hours with no luck. Dogs were hunting at a nice lope making 200 to 300 yard loops. Not many tracks or much sign at all. I figured the hogs would be down in the draws out of the wind so we kept pushing. Dogs got piggy on a fence crossing. Me & Lynda sat & waited while they trailed into the draw. About 10 minutes & 600 yards later, they bayed solid. Lynda & I eased in to the bay and they had a good 200 - 220 range boar bayed in a wash/cave at the bottom of a 40’ cliff. Got some good video & watched the boar charge the bay dogs from the cave for a couple minutes. Sent Lynda & git him caught & stuck. This is one of the coolest, pretty spots I’ve bayed a hog so I took the time to sit & appreciate it and take some pics.

After enjoying the first bay, I sent the bay dogs again and they got bayed solid again about 300 yards west across another deep draw. I didn’t expect another mature boar. Figured it would be a hot sow. Walked Lynda in to about 20 yards, grabbed some video & sent her. The boar smacked her and both bay dogs off and broke about 40 yards and backed into a wash and made his last stand. Roughly same size hog but a little ranker than the first. We got touched up enough for me to call it a hunt.

Pics don’t do these hogs justice. I’m a terrible photographer. I need to figure out how to upload video. Hope you guys enjoy!


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I prefer cast dogs but I hunt track dogs. For me, it’s about aligning your dogs with the places you have to hunt and the time you have to hunt. North Texas is undergoing a population boom and our places to hunt are drying up and getting smaller. I have to hunt smaller tracts of land. Work & Family responsibilities relegate me to hunting the occasional weekday evening and weekends. It’s better for me to have dogs that I can drop in sign that get bayed relatively soon.

I used to have hard going cast dogs and it got to where I was out hunting the places I had and crossing roads all the time. Whiteknuckles, puckered you know what chasing dogs on the Garmin hoping they didn’t get ran over wasn’t much fun.

I’ve come to appreciate the ability to just go hunt for an hour or two and be able to bay/catch a hog or two, catch em up & come home. There are times when sign is thin that I miss cast dogs. If I had more country & time to hunt, I would have cast dogs first sure.


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Dog work don’t get much better than that……heck of a job man! Nice hogs as well!


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Thought Provoking post Old Man.

Disclaimer- I appreciate hounds and cur dogs. I grew up hunting hounds but I currently hunt cur dogs. Both have their place. Hound/cur crosses have made some of the best I have seen go. I like & appreciate BOTH.

In my experience, well bred hounds have a higher success rate performing in various terrain & conditions across the country. I speculate the reason for this is because they are “ hardwired” to hunt, trail, jump, chase, locate, & stay treed/bayed. The type of hound I am referencing hunts for themselves, not for their owner/handler or pack mates. Big Game Hunters & Competition Coon Hunters have dogs performing well from coast to coast & border to border.

A well bred cur dog pup has the same chance of making a dog anywhere as long as the game population allows them to be productive. I haven’t seen as many examples of cur dogs being successful across the country. I speculate this is because most cur dogs aren’t hard wired to pound out a cold track in tough conditions. There are some leopard dogs being used on bear & cat in California, Idaho, Montana, & Wyoming. They are usually in packs with hounds.

Buying finished/aged dogs can be tricky. I have firsthand experience with it. There will absolutely be a transition period and they will likely never perform quite as well in their new environment as they did “back home”. They will, however, be productive as long as the new owner is patient and puts them in sign on the desired game.

I see ALOT of dogs get returned on trial because the new owner is either impatient or does NOT hunt the dog the way they are used to being hunted. Ex. Buying a rig/road dog & expecting it to cast. Hunting in a large pack when the dog is used to being hunted alone or in small packs. Daytime vs Nighttime.

Again, I see hounds & hound crosses acclimating to change more often than pure cur dogs. Again, I speculate this is because they are hardwired to hunt for themselves.


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Nice hunt T dog. Baying sounders is my favorite part of hog dogging. It’s really fun to see how dogs react to it the first time or two. The intensity really ramps up! I feel like they are great training opportunities for young dogs. They learn how to relay & provide fresh “tracks” for pups to take. I’ve had alot of prospects bay their first solo hog off a scattered sounder. It seems to expand their range a little as well. I’ve also seen it overstimulate their nose & cause them to struggle. Sounds like Boyd is made of the right stuff. Look forward to following your posts to enjoy his development.


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Nice one man. It’s really hard for me to decide on breeding a cd liter or raising another from a pup, but it’s so rewarding and they’re moldable.


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Thanks Ark96. I understand your predicament all to well. I tried to breed a litter of CDs but couldn’t get the old gyp to take. I got an opportunity to get what I feel is a well bred pup so I took her. I personally would prefer to breed my own just to know what I’m getting. I definitely prefer to at least “raise” my cds from weaning age. Getting an older prospect or finished cd can be risky.


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Nice hog and good write up….

Dogs done a fine job and catchdog earned its feed!
 
I know it sounds like you receive an echo on here sometimes but folks are reading and appreciate the work and write ups you put in

Thank you Semmes.


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Thanks fellas. Much appreciated. It was a good day in the woods.


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My hillbilly trophy pack out method…..

Better pic


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I gave the deer hunters time to get off stand and decided to make a late morning run yesterday. Took Rousty, Yancy, & Annie for bay dogs. Rousty is the sire to both pups. Different dams. Toted Latch On Lynda to catch.

Dropped on the first feeder around 10:30 AM. Dogs worked about a 500 yard loop around it but came up empty. Loaded em up and drove to the next feeder. Dogs started heading too far east so I toned them back.

Drop 3 I sent them up a draw to the Northwest. They hunted it for about 15 minutes and started working a track around 750 yards. They took it up a ridge through some super tick white brush. Annie dropped out & came back. I loaded her up. Rousty & Yancy we’re swinging & drifting together for another half mile. I noticed they were staying in a small area for a while. Drove over to 350 yards away & the bark detectors finally sounded off. I listened for a minute & it sounded like a solid bay. Annie wanted to go to them so I let her. She got there & it held fir a couple minutes. I got to watch them work him on the side of the ridge. Annie got too tight & the hog broke. He came back east about 400 yards & couldn’t stand having his ascend burned up anymore so he made his stand on the side of another ridge in some thick ass white brush.

Lynda & I eased in to 48 yards from the bay. I sent her & she got hooked. She took some heat but stayed hooked while I fought the thicket to get to them. Dispatched him & checked all the dogs. Got lucky and didn’t sustain any “vet worthy” injuries. I sat down & petted all the dogs & really soaked it in.

Pretty satisfying to see Rousty teach his pups how to finish & stay. Also neat to see the little runt AB pup I brought home at 5 weeks old mature into a bulldog. Anyhow, just a nice morning in the woods for the knuckedragger pack. Good solid boar hog in my opinion.


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Appreciate the encouraging words TDog. I agree with you on the cooler weather affording me the time to slow down & hunt them longer. Overall, I’m pleased with their “try”, resilience, & durability at such young ages. Honestly, they have struggled the most mentally. Their attention span & ability to lean in and grind when it gets “mentally” difficult is where they have the most room for growth. I have walked them down tracks on looses and they are learning to keep at it.
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Although rough dogs aren’t my cup of tea, I’m gonna make an exception for Percy. I’ll hunt him solo or use him as a catch dog if he turns out THAT rough. So far, I can hunt him with Yancy because Yancy won’t put a tooth on a hog. Just can’t hunt him with his daddy. They get “catchy” together.

I hunted Yancy with his Daddy & sister this weekend. He went every step on 3/4 mile track and located ahead of his Daddy. Sister covered & had a good bay for a few minutes. It broke & all 3 took it about a mile & a half before I had to call them off. Yancy didn’t want to quit. He made me wait on him in the dam rain! I was smiling & cussing at the same time!

Much respect to you OM for the time & effort you have put into having a productive set of dogs. Sorry to hear about the losses. It seems like that is the tax we have to pay when hunting hard to make dogs. 13 singles on 4 hunts and 7 in 5 hunts would make some of our local coon hunters blush…..and Coons are not scarce!
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I have never had the opportunity to bear hunt. From what I read, I think I would enjoy it.
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Couple questions if you don’t mind…….

Do you expect your dogs to hunt for tracks together or fan out and hunt independently?

Once a “strike” is acquired, do you expect them to honor it and pack up on the track?

Does steady pack pressure make bears climb?

Do you get many split trees?


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